Ending life support: Judge ruling no longer needed if family and doctors agree

Relatives of people in a permanent vegetative state will no longer have to seek legal permission to end their care, the Supreme Court has ruled.

When families and doctors agree it’s in the best interests of the patient, medical staff will be able to remove feeding tubes without applying to the Court of Protection.

The ruling comes after a banker in his 50s suffered severe brain damage after a heart attack. He has since died, but the case continued in order to establish the law. Not everyone is happy with the change though.